Basic Written Chinese. Cornelius C. Kubler

Basic Written Chinese

川 chuān river

川 is itself a radical. 川 is a pictograph showing three separate streams converging to form a “river,” which is even more apparent in an alternate form of this character: 巛. The character 川 can also serve as a phonetic in other characters, e.g., in 巡 xún as in 巡逻 (巡邏) xúnluó “patrol,” 训 (訓) xùn as in 教训 (教訓) jiàoxùn “a lesson learned,” and 顺 (順) shùn “smooth.” Contrast 川 with 三 sān (3) and 州 zhōu (28).

四川 Sìchuān Sichuan (province) [PW]

39 香 xiāng fragrant

This character is itself a radical. Contrast 香 and 东 (東) dōng (29).

香山 Xiāng Shān Fragrant Hills (suburb to the northwest of Beijing) [PW]

40 港 găng harbor

Radical is 水 shuĭ “water.” Notice that this radical is written 氵 and is referred to colloquially as 三点水 (三點水) sāndiăn shuĭ “three drops of water” when it occurs at the left-hand side of a character. Phonetic is 巷 xiàng as in 巷子 xiàngzi “lane.”

香港 Xiānggăng Hong Kong [PW]

41 南 nán south

Radical is 十 shí (11). This character is itself a phonetic and occurs as a phonetic in a few other characters, e.g., 腩 nán as in 牛腩 niúnán “sirloin beef.”

南 Nán Nan (also Nam, a common Korean surname) [SN]

南京 Nánjīng Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province; formerly spelled Nanking) [PW]

台南 Táinán Tainan (city in southern Taiwan) [PW]

海南 Hăinán Hainan (province) [PW]

中山南路 Zhōngshān Nán Lù Zhongshan South Road

42 街 jiē street

Radical is 行 xíng “go” [BF]. Inserted into the middle of 行 are two 土 tŭ “earth.” One “goes” on the “street,” which is made of much “earth.” Note that 街 is often added to place words or personal names to create street names.

街 jiē street [N]

大街 dàjiē main street, avenue [PW]

西安街 Xī’ān Jiē Xian Street

香港街 Xiānggăng Jiē Hong Kong Street

天津大街 Tiānjīn Dàjiē Tianjin Avenue

Reading Exercises (Simplified Characters)

Now practice reading the new characters and words for this lesson in context. Be sure to refer to the Notes at the end of this lesson, and make use of the accompanying audio disc to hear and practice correct pronunciation, phrasing, and intonation.

A. PERSONAL NAMES

Read out loud each of the following personal names.

一、安小明

二、李南

三、何安天

四、林小川

五、南山

六、王海香

B. PLACE NAMES

Read out loud each of the following place names.

一、成都

二、台南

三、广东

四、西安

五、天津

六、香山

七、山东

八、南京

九、香港

C. PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACES OF ORIGIN

Read out loud each of the following expressions, thinking of the meaning as you say it.

一、南京人

二、台东人

三、广西人

四、山西人

五、四川人

六、香港人

七、成都人

八、台南人

九、台北人

D. NAMES OF STREETS AND ROADS

Read out loud the names of each of these Chinese streets or roads.

一、四川街

二、中山南路

三、广州街

四、山西东街

五、南京东路

六、天津大街

七、香港街

八、上海街

九、山东西街

E. CHARACTER DIFFERENTIATION DRILLS

Distinguish carefully the following similar-looking characters, pronouncing each one out loud and thinking of its meaning.

一、川川川三三三

二、三三三川川川

三、川川川州州州

四、州州州川川川

五、三川州州川三

Reading Exercises (Traditional Characters)